Watch out Segway, here comes the Toyota Winglet!

Posted August 1, 2008 at 05:54 PM by Mark Rollins

Section: Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation, Transportation

I really don’t understand why Segways have not caught on yet.  Perhaps we are still comfortable with the idea of walking, or we can’t help but think that Segways look too geeky. 

Whatever the reason, Segways might be on their way out as Toyota introduced the new Winglet.  Like the Segway, the Winglet has two wheels along with internal sensors in order to monitor the user’s position and then make adjustments to ensure stability. 

I’m not certain if you can tell by the picture, but no handlebars are required for this two-wheeled transport.  The user sits on that one raised section, and goes forward, backward, and turn simply by shifting their (ahem) butt around.

Speaking of the (ahem) butt, I have noticed a huge amount of butt jokes with the other gadget blogs that have covered this developing piece of technology.  I can’t say I blame them, as it is just too easy.  Especially when Toyota has said that the Winglet will be available in Small, Medium, and Large sizes. Man, it is way too easy to make cracks on that one. 

All joking aside, Toyota hasn’t made it clear as to when the Winglet will be available to a general consumer, and there is no word on the price, either. 

Via [ubergizmo]